I do have 4 cats... I've always loved cats, my mom passed away 15 years ago and when I lost her cats always remind me of her as she also loved them.
My sister is abusive physically and emotionally to me as she is also schizoid and my dad is 73 years old. I am the sole provider for both of them as well as myself as she doesn't work and probably never will.
In my life I never really had anyone to stand by me ever since I graduated high school and had to start work along while being full-time in University, even when I was in long-term relationships, usually there was a moment when that person just can't deal with the day to day stress I have to go through. No one likes a woman with difficult life, difficult job and difficult family. Also, I am very much independent in various aspects and that also pushed men away as not every man is ok for a woman to make twice the money he does or change tires of her car or whatever, life taught me some very hard lessons and I guess I still have more to learn.

With him it was not like this... He didn't feel intimidated and I liked that...
I guess he never really cared what I was or was not. I got caught up believing maybe I need someone who is as ambitious and self-driven as I am in a way... So it's not sensitive men as they are intimidated, it's not self-driven men as they are egocentric and just don't care, I kind of start feeling I am just not a person that people want in their lives as a partner.

Meeting the family was great, they were in another city so we travelled for the evening with his brother and his brother's gf and returned the next day. We spoke until late, they were very nice and I think we liked each other. Anyway, none of this matters now I guess...